1. About Me

Xiangkun (Elvis) Cao is a Ph.D. student in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University, under the supervision of Prof. David Erickson. His research focuses on: mobile health, point-of-care diagnostics, and microfluidics.

Prior to joining Cornell, he was a visiting graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his Master’s degree from McGill University, and his BEng & BA dual degree from the ‘Tsien Hsue-shen’ Honors College of Xi’an Jiaotong University.

2. Abstract

FeverPhone: Point of Care Diagnosis of Acute Febrile Illness using a Mobile Device

Acute undifferentiated febrile illnesses are responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality globally. Our goal is to develop a technology called “FeverPhone,” a smartphone based molecular diagnostics platform for point-of-care differential diagnosis of six common causes of acute febrile illness (namely: Dengue, Malaria, Chikungunya, Leptospirosis, Typhoid fever, and Chagas). In parallel with technical development, this system will be fully validated at our existing field site in Ecuador and be ready for FDA approval by the end of the effort.

The effort includes: (1) a specialized 6-plexed colorimetric IgM/IgG assay cartridge that exploits color discrimination assay on mobile devices, (2) associated iPad based hardware that allows rapid interpretation of the cartridge results, and (3) software that combines differential molecular diagnosis with a confirmatory symptomatic interface used by the operator to enable actionable diagnosis in around 15 minutes.

The system has significant advantages over the state-of-the-art as it will enable: (1) Quasi-unbiased detection of causative agent behind cause of febrile illness in a single test on a familiar platform requiring little or no training; (2) Simplified patient and spatiotemporal tracking; (3) Demonstrated inter-device repeatability; (4) Health care advice and ability to immediately contact or alert a health-care provider if needed; (5) Low-cost.

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4. Slides

5. About Erickson Lab

The Erickson lab at Cornell is led by Prof. David Erickson, the Sibley College Professor at Cornell University. (http://www.ericksonlab.org/)

We are a group of multidisciplinary Ph.D., Post-doctoral, and other researchers with expertise spanning Mechanical, Biomedical, Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics. We have broad expertise in nanotechnology, microfluidics, photonics, and biomedical diagnostics.

Our multidisciplinary research efforts in such areas as mobile and global health, bioenergy, and nanomanipulation are funded by a number of US federal agencies including the NIH, NSF, DOE, and DOD. In addition to fundamental research, we emphasize transition of our technologies to the market place through the formation of start-ups and other commercial interactions.